Potable drinking water is a shrinking resource around the world. It is in short supply in many parts of the world, and in the future it will become more even challenging to supply the water requirements of growing populations. Climate change effects have begun to alter expected weather and water patterns, and these changes, combined with an ever-increasing human population and increased water requirements for domestic, agriculture and industrial sectors has led and will lead to shortages.
The problem is particularly acute in places such as tropical islands, and floating installations such as oil rigs, and at remote or tropical locations that lack a water supply infrastructure. For example, on many islands, consumers must purchase expensive bottled water, or refill water jugs with water of questionable purity at local water stations. There are no wells, most houses are not on city water and even if they are, the city water is not potable. Many homes use rain water runoff guttered into a cistern sanitized with bleach.
In other locations lacking a water piping infrastructure, such as in the Middle East, the typical water source is delivered “jug water,” obtained from local water sources. Such water is often of questionable purity and flavor.
The problem is also found in places where the existing water infrastructure has not been maintained. Water pipes may leak, cisterns may be cracked, such that the quantity of available water is less than amounts available a century ago. In addition, such systems also are at risk for contamination of the water supply from such leaks and from other causes.
Ambient air typically contains moisture. The amount of water in ambient atmospheric air varies with temperature, air humidity and pressure. Hot humid air contains more water than cold dry air. Moisture contained in ambient air condenses into liquid form as droplets when the air temperature drops below a determined dewpoint.
Many atmospheric water generating machines have been proposed in the past. The typical machine has a cooling element that receives filtered ambient air and cools the air to condense moisture. The condensation is collected, sterilized by UV light and/or ozone, and stored and/or dispensed. The temperature of the cooling element is maintained so that is does not reach the freezing point which would decrease water collection efficiency. However, such systems, whether large or small, have been dependent on an electrical system infrastructure to operate the systems. Small water cooler size systems, while portable, have insufficient capacity to supply the needs of a substantial population. Larger installations are all custom built and are not designed to be readily deployed using standard commercial transport systems.